Worldwide, some 5 percent of the world’s population — about 240 million people — are dependent on alcohol. The accepted mental health definitions of dependence speaks of compulsive use, loss of control over substance use, and a failure to stop using even when people are aware of the problems alcohol is causing. More than a billion people, or 20 percent of the human race, smoke tobacco.
Statistics on the use of illegal drugs are more difficult to gather, says Gowing. But one point of comparison is that, from limited estimates available, some 15 million people around the world use injection drugs, such as heroin. The report’s authors noted that the data on illegal drug use, drawn from the U.N.’s World Drug Report and the Global Burden of Disease Report, is sparse precisely because its use is hidden.
It’s undeniable that both tobacco and alcohol increase the risk of early death. But the overuse of alcohol, the report found, takes a greater toll in what public health officials refer to as productive years of life lost than does tobacco. That means in addition to dying younger, people who are dependent on alcohol have poor health over a long period of time. They develop an inability to work and to tend to relationships, and they experience an overall reduction in their quality of life, Gowing says.
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